Gut Microbes Might Play an Important Role in Healthy Aging, Study Suggests

Dec, 2020 - By WMR

According to a new research study, researchers have suggested that gut microbes might help in maintaining health and further can be utilized to develop novel treatments. It is evident that bacteria and other microorganisms in the digestive tract are associated with several health conditions such as high blood pressure, body mass index (BMI), and high blood lipids among others.

Moreover, the human gut microbiome comprises generally bacteria and single-celled organism archaea, whereas and their collective genetic material is present in the digestive tract. In this study, researchers examined numerous diseases and other traits in one legion explaining the significant extent of microbiome impelling sickness and health.

Dr. Groot stated, “Previous research has shown that the human gut microbiome composition could be partially explained by genetic variants. So, instead of directly measuring the make-up of the microbiome, we used genetic alterations to estimate its composition.”

In the study, researchers included 422,417 unrelated individuals of average age 57 years (54% women) in the UK Biobank who previously underwent genotyping to detect their genetic make-up. Moreover, researchers collected data based on a wide range of diseases and other factors such as BMI and blood pressure. Later, researchers observed that 11 bacteria with increased levels of (estimated from genetic data) were linked to total 28 health and disease outcomes, which included high blood pressure, high blood lipids, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and BMI among others.

Researchers concluded that this study provide association between several diseases and health conditions. The outcomes might aid in identifying identify common pathways and also said that follow-up studies are further required.